A456 road

Known as theHagley Roadin Birmingham, theA456is a main road inEnglandrunning betweenCentral BirminghamandWoofferton,Shropshire,south ofLudlow.Some sections of the route, for exampleEdgbastonnearBearwood,are also the route of theElan Aqueductwhich carries Birmingham's water supply from theElan Valley.

A456
The A456 passing nearClent Hills
Route information
Length	40 mi(64 km)
Major junctions
East end	Birmingham
Major intersections	A38 A457 A4540 A4030 A4123 A458 M5J3 A459 A491 A450 A449 A451 A442 A4535 A4117 A443 A4112 A49
West end	Woofferton
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Primary destinations	BirminghamKidderminsterLeominster
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones
←A454 →A457

Route

Birmingham - Kidderminster

The A456 now starts on Hagley Road atFive Waysjunction on the Middleway (A4540) in Birmingham. It previously started at the Paradise Circus junction with the former Inner Ring Road (A4400) but originally ran along New Street in the city centre. Heading West through the Birmingham suburbs ofEdgbastonandQuintonusing a mixture of dual carriageway and single carriageway roads, though maintaining at least 2 lanes in each direction. Just beyond Quinton, the A458 exits towardsHalesowen,while the A456 bypasses the town to the South, meeting theM5at Junction 3. This route was completed in the 1960s, beginning with Quinton Expressway and resuming beyond the motorway junction as Manor Way (the Halesowen By-Pass). Part of the historic Staffordshire/Worcestershire border runs along the road by Lightwoods Park, and today this is the boundary betweenBirmingham City Counciland theMetropolitan Borough of Sandwell.

The road resumes its original route on the West side of Halesowen, enteringWorcestershireand passing over theClent Hills.TheA491is crossed in the village ofHagley,where the road becomes single carriageway once more, passing through the village, closely followed by the village ofBlakedown.Beyond there a dual carriageway section takes the road toKidderminster,crossing theA449,before following the town's Ring Road to the North side.

Kidderminster - Woofferton

Now on the West side of Kidderminster, the road passes the General Hospital before leaving the town and passing theWest Midland Safari Park.The next town ofBewdleyis now bypassed by a single carriageway road to the South and West, this road being completed in 1987. Just after Bewdley theA4117 road(toCleobury Mortimer) begins at theFingerpostjunction with the A456. Continuing West, the road is entirely rural in nature, passing theWyre Foresteventually meeting theA443at a "T" junction. The road passes just to the North ofTenbury Wells,theA4112providing access to the town, and then through the village ofLittle Hereford(therefore passing briefly throughHerefordshire). Between Newnham Bridge and Burford the road entersShropshire,and then entersHerefordshirefor about the same distance, before entering Shropshire again at its junction with theA49.The A456 terminates shortly after on theA49in Woofferton.

History

Much of the road is almost certainly medieval in origin. However, the road was laid out, essentially in its present form (except where there are modern bypasses) by a series of 18th centuryturnpike trusts.

Birmingham - Blakedown

From Birmingham toBlakedownsection was the responsibility of one trust established in 1753 to improve roads from the market house inStourbridge.Blakedown was then part ofHagley,giving rise to the name for it of 'Hagley Road'. Sections of the route have had other names. For example, the 1903 Ordnance Survey map shows the name "Beech Lane" byLightwoods Housewest ofBearwood,and the area south of Hagley Road between Lordswood Road and Wolverhampton Road is still referred to as "Beech Lanes"

Blakedown - Bewdley Bridge

The section from Blakedown toBewdley Bridgerepresents two of the eight roads from the market house inKidderminsterthat were maintained by a trust established in 1759. The turnpike road passed throughHalesowen,following what is nowA458 roadand B4183 toHayley Green.Halesowen was bypassed around the south of the town in the 1950s due to rising traffic levels and the growth of the town, and Manor Lane became part of A456. Then in the 1970s, the Quinton Expressway was opened to connect withM5 motorwayjunction 3, when the northern section of M5 was opened in the 1970s.

Bewdley - Newnham Bridge

From the Welsh Gate ofBewdleytoNewnham Bridge,it was managed by the Bewdley Trust established in 1753. From Monksbridge (theShropshireboundary, toWooffertonand so to Ludlow, the road was repaired by theLudlowFirstTurnpike Trustof about 1751. The intervening section was handled by the Hundred House Turnpike Trust of 1753. The Hundred House atGreat Witleywas probably the meeting place forDoddingtreeHundred. This trust was unusual in being responsible for several roads radiating from a place that was not a town.

Bypasses and Realignments

• Bewdley (Bypassed in the late 1980s, now B4190)
• Halesowen (Former route now A458 and B4183)
• Kidderminster (Now follows the route of the Ring Road rather than through the town centre)

Notable places

• Birmingham Oratory,Edgbaston
• West Midland Safari Park
• Severn Valley Railway
• Wyre Forest
• River Teme

Water Crossings

The road crosses a number of water coursesalong its route, both natural and human-made. Traveling eastbound, one will cross Gosford Brook,River Teme,Ledwyche Brook,Corn Brook,River Rea,River Severn,RiverStour,(in both Kidderminster and Halesowen), theStaffordshire and Worcestershire Canal,theElan Aqueductand theBCN Main Line,along with many other smaller streams and brooks.

In Popular Culture

John Combe's 2008 bookGet Your Kicks on the A456(ISBN-10: 0955048206) documents the contributions made by musicians from the Kidderminster and Wyre Forest areas to pop and rock music between the mid-1950s and the 1970s, with reference to bands such asChicken ShackandLed Zeppelin.